Officers from the Boston Police’s RAD (Rape Aggression Defense) Program at a recent Jeffries Point Neighborhood Association meeting. In response to the recent sexual assaults in East Boston, the Boston Police Department is offering this free women’s self defense program beginning next month.
In response to the recent sexual assaults in East Boston, the Boston Police Department is offering a free women’s self defense program called RAD (Rape Aggression Defense) to women in the community.
The program, sponsored by the Boston Police, Jeffries Point Neighborhood Association (JPNA) and the Jeffries Yacht Club will run the class beginning on Wednesdays, November 7 through December 12 from 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. at the Yacht Club, 565 Sumner St.
This course will consist of six two-hour sessions. The first class is partially administrative. All the other classes are physically interactive. The Police said clothing should be typical gym clothing like loose fitting sweat pants and/or jeans okay, sneakers but no jewelry. A certified self-defense instructor will teach all classes.
The RAD approach to personal safety education embodies a practical blend of threat avoidance strategies and real world assault resistance tactics for women.
The focus of the RAD course of instruction is on the development of easily mastered personal safety skills, which can be safely practiced within a comfortable learning environment such as home. The overall goal of RAD is to reduce victimization through informed decision-making and sensible action. RAD is not a traditional self-defense course. It fills a longstanding void by enabling women to learn in a period of several hours, a set of cognitive and physical skills, which will be of benefit for years to come.
“The choice to be made regarding resistance in any particular situation is a personal one,” said RAD Officer Isabel Sweet. “RAD students find the manner of instruction to be supportive and the course as a whole, to be a very empowering experience.”
Since the string of sexual assaults dating back to August, the community has held several meetings including a community wide meeting sponsored by Eastie’s election officials and the Boston Police. At each meeting, residents, particularly women, have requested a police-sponsored self-defense class.
Immediately, Community Officers from District 7 reached out to the RAD Program and officers attended the last JPNA meeting to give information and begin the process of setting up dates for the class.
For more information, including registration email: at [email protected]